Pedroia proving doubters wrong

October, 24, 2007

10/24/07

12:08

PM ET

BOSTON -- We have before us the two rookies of the year.

On the one hand, there is Troy Tulowitzki, built like Cal Ripken or even a young Troy Glaus, 6-foot-3, with 23-home run power, a gun for an arm and underestimated athleticism that got him 130 more chances than any other shortstop in baseball -- such athleticism that two teams that do defensive data claim the difference between Tulowitzki and the second-best defensive shortstop this season was greater than the difference between No. 2 and No. 9. As a rookie, he has assumed the leadership role of the National League's most talented team wth his quiet fire.

On the other, there is Pedroia, who is three or four inches shorter than his listed height of 5-9. Where Tulowitski was the seventh selection in the 2005 draft, arguably the best in 20 years, one that included Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Cameron Maybin and Jacoby Ellsbury, Pedroia was the 66th selection the previous year. Many scouts spit on Pedroia's tools and laughed at a 5-5 guy who couldn't run, had an uppercut swing and, well, just produced.

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Peter Gammons

Hall of Fame baseball reporter Peter Gammons has worked for ESPN since 1988. He primarily serves as a studio analyst for "Baseball Tonight," but he also does regular spots for "SportsCenter," ESPNEWS and ESPN Radio and contributes to ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine.

Gammons was voted the National Sportswriter of the Year for 1989, 1990 and 1993 by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and was awarded an honorary Poynter Fellow from Yale University. But his highest honor was the 2004 J.G. Taylor Spink Award, voted on by the BBWAA and awarded at the Baseball Hall of Fame for outstanding baseball writing.

Gammons, a 1969 graduate of the University of North Carolina, began his career as a reporter for the Boston Globe in 1969. He has also worked for Sports Illustrated covering the NHL, college basketball and major league baseball (1976 to '78, 1986 to '90). In 1986, upon his return to Sports Illustrated as a senior writer following a second stay at the Globe, he wrote numerous stories covering some of baseball's most important news events and authored Inside Baseball, Sports Illustrated's weekly baseball notebook. Gammons is also the author of "Beyond the Sixth Game," a look at free agency.

Gammons is a gifted musician, and his debut album, "Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old," was released on Rounder Records. With the assistance of a crack band of Boston rockers, Gammons trades in his typewriter for a Stratocaster and delivers a rousing set of vintage classics, originals and rock obscurities -- all to benefit Theo and Paul Epstein's Foundation to be Named Later, a charity that raises funds and awareness for nonprofit agencies serving disadvantaged youth in the greater Boston area.